Here's the explanation.

A travesty...! I'm still in the female Daurian camp.

No idea why news is put out - just look at eBird records, up to 34 in residence at Grange-over-Sands in last few years. Wandering feral birds regular across northern England. Why report these and not Black Swan, Monk Parakeet etc..? (And why use 'of unknown origin...'!)

Over 600 Masked Booby and 150 Socotra in under 3 hrs was our peak. Only a few small sample watches though, must be brilliant in right conditions.

A solid collapsible option is the Walkstool. Not cheap but very well made and lightweight. Ideal for on boat decks as well as in rucksacks. I went for the 65cm size, just right for looking over boat railings!
www.walkstool.com/comfort

Large numbers of adult Herring Gulls also been moving south. From where and to where?! Not heard of any larger scale breeding failures, but next 4-6 weeks will be interesting.

observation.org is good site which covers a variety of taxa including marine mammals. You're able to search everyone's records, see photos, use a mobile app for recording in the field etc. Definitely worth a look.

They passed Whitburn about 05:35 too. There now seems to be an established late spring passage along east coast, possibly late departing Dutch birds?

We did the same itinerary with Carles a couple of years back. Brilliant trip, birds were fantastic and a great price for the tour.